Cipro

[Guest guest]

BIOLOGICAL WAR-FEAR

Saved from anthrax, sick from Cipro?

Side effects could hit runners,

coffee-drinkers, kids, elderly hardest

By Sperry

© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com

WASHINGTON - Clinical trials show

ciprofloxacin HCI causes some nasty, even

life-threatening, side effects. Good news is

they're rare.

Only, trials are based on a normal 7-to-14-day

therapy - the dosage prescribed for ailments

like urinary tract infections, ciprofloxacin's

typical treatment - and not the exceedingly long

60-day course for anthrax, whether it be the

inhaled form or less-lethal skin form.

Ciprofloxacin, which is sold under the Cipro

brand name, has never been tested in

anthrax-exposed humans.

The risk of anthrax infection remains for at least

60 days because of the possibility of delayed

germination of spores, which are hardy and can

survive a long time, even in an open

environment.

Thanks to the anthrax-by-letter scare, thousands

of Americans are taking the two-month Cipro

regimen, either on the advice of public health

officials and doctors, or on their own.

In Florida, New York and Washington's Capitol

building, more than 2,700 people - from Tom

Brokaw to Tom Daschle - are taking the

powerful drug as a prophylactic against

possible anthrax infection.

In addition, the drug is now being dispensed to

more than 10,000 postal workers in New Jersey,

Washington and Baltimore, who might have

been exposed to spores. Even the crew of a

Mississippi towboat are popping the pills after

being dusted Friday with a mysterious chemical

by a low-flying plane.

That doesn't include the tens of thousands of

Americans living primarily in New York,

Washington and Florida who have stockpiled

Cipro and may be taking it - even though they

haven't been in buildings where anthrax-laced

mail has been handled or opened. For them, the

drug is more of an anti-anxiety medication.

It's hard to predict how these uninfected and

otherwise healthy individuals will react to

taking two 500-mg tablets of the powerful

antimicrobial every day for two months.

But doctors say the likelihood of side effects

increases the longer patients stay on antibiotics.

And Cipro is one drug that patients do not want

to stay on longer than they have to.

Studies show it can lead to chronic stomach

problems, such as colitis, connective tissue

damage - including torn Achilles' tendons - and

even brain damage.

It's not candy, yet people are popping the white

pills as if they were Tic-Tacs.

In fact, Cipro, part of the fluoroquinolone family

of antibiotics, is the most powerful germ-killer,

which is why the U.S. military stockpiles it for

possible germ warfare. It acts much like a

defoliant - wiping out the targeted bad bacteria,

such as anthrax, but also the good bacteria in

your body.

That's why Cipro patients commonly vomit or

get diarrhea. The potent antimicrobial kills the

so-called " normal flora " in the digestive tract

that help keep unwanted bugs in check, doctors

say. When they're destroyed, unwanted yeast or

other bacteria may take over, causing stomach

upset. (Pharmacists recommend taking Cipro on

an empty stomach to maximize its absorption,

which only exacerbates the gastrointestinal

reaction. Taking the drug with lots of water,

however, may help ease digestion.)

Cipro also is known to adversely affect the

central nervous system, causing drowsiness,

dizziness, irritability, insomnia, restlessness and

headaches.

In rarer cases, Cipro can cause hallucinations

and even seizures. It can also weaken cartilage

and cause joint damage.

Those at greatest risk of suffering side effects

from Cipro include:

Runners, weight-lifters, or any athletes or

workers who put a lot of pressure and

strain on their joints;

Tea and coffee drinkers;

Small children;

Expectant mothers;

The elderly, or anyone with weakened

immune systems;

Heavy alcohol drinkers, or those with a

history of liver problems;

And, diabetics.

Runners

Cipro weakens tendons which, in rare cases, can

rupture under physical stress and require

surgery and months of rehabilitation.

Tendons subjected to heavy stress - such as the

Achilles' tendon, shoulder rotator cuff, and

those supporting the knee and attached to the

quadriceps muscles - are most at risk of tearing,

according to New York orthopedic surgeon Dr.

Riley in a 1999 New York Times

interview.

The injury typically occurs near the end of a 7-

or 14-day course of treatment, he says, or even

after the course has been completed.

Bayer AG, the German firm which

manufacturers Cipro, argues that of the more

than 100 million Cipro prescriptions written in

the U.S. between 1989 and 1999, only 100 cases

of tendon ruptures were reported in medical

journals.

Of course, the effects of Cipro on tendons

following a 60-day dosage have not yet been

studied.

Tea and coffee drinkers

Cipro can dramatically intensify the metabolic

effects of caffeine by increasing the level of

theophylline alkaloids in the bloodstream.

In fact, Cipro can cause " theophylline-induced

toxicity, " noted Dr. A. Gleckman of the

Boston University School of Medicine.

Children

While the FDA approved Cipro for sale here in

1987, it still has not OK'd its use for children

under 18.

Reason: The antimicrobial may, according to

tests on immature animals and a small number

of reported cases in children, cause arthropathy

- joint and cartilage damage that leads to

walking difficulties.

Some doctors still prescribe Cipro for children

with infections that other antibiotics can't kill,

such as bacterial meningitis. And some will give

Cipro to kids with chronic ear infections - but in

the form of ear drops, which aren't as readily

absorbed by the body as tablets.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

has, however, approved Cipro for kids exposed

to, or infected by, anthrax.

For example, a 7-month-old New York infant

with cutaneous anthrax is taking Cipro.

So are some children of National Enquirer

editors and other staffers employed by

American Media Inc. in Boca Raton, Fla., where

an anthrax-laced letter was opened by a

photographer, who wound up dying from

pulmonary anthrax. AMI's chief executive

encouraged staffers to bring their kids to work,

since many of them work long hours. (The

tabloid publisher in January moved its editorial

offices to Boca Raton from Lantana, Fla. The

new building is now a Superfund clean-up site.)

Expectant mothers

Cipro generally is not recommended during

pregnancy because of the drug's known

association with arthropathy in adolescent

animals, as well as small numbers of children.

" Animal studies have discovered no evidence of

teratogenicity [a chemical-related disease

causing malformed fetuses] related to

ciprofloxacin, but no controlled studies of

ciprofloxacin in pregnant women have been

conducted, " a recent JAMA report states.

Even Bayer admits that " the safety of

ciprofloxacin in children, adolescents, pregnant

women and lactating women has not been

established. "

Elderly

There have been cases reported of older

patients, in particular, succumbing to

neurological abnormalities while taking Cipro.

One man, 70, showed up at an emergency room

dizzy, confused and agitated. He also had

developed a gait which he could not correct.

The man had been taking Cipro for an infected

wound for weeks. Tests showed his prescription

was the culprit.

Central nervous system toxicity can also take

the form of seizures. In one 1990 study,

" ciprofloxacin showed moderate to marked

epileptogenic effects. "

Heavy drinkers

Cipro elevates liver and kidney enzymes and

can lead to jaundice in rare cases.

A 21-year-old British man, for example, took

Cipro in 1997 for a bad cough. A heterosexual

teetotaler, he had no history of liver problems.

Yet he had developed jaundice and a tender

liver. His liver function tests returned to normal

after discontinuing the antibiotic.

Diabetics

According to the FDA package insert, Cipro is

contraindicated for patients with diabetes since

it elevates glucose levels. Diabetics have gone

into comas after taking Cipro.

Three years ago, a Washington-area woman

took Cipro for a sinus infection, moreover, and

spent the next 18 months trying to recover from

the drug's side effects, warns one pharmacist

here, who's filled so many Cipro prescriptions

recently he's run out of stock.

With three Americans dead so far from inhaling

anthrax spores sent through the mail, the threat

from anthrax terrorism is real (although it still

hasn't risen anywhere near the level of a mass

attack). And the thousands of precautionary

Cipro prescriptions that have been written may

just save thousands of lives.

But they may just as easily make thousands of

otherwise healthy people unnecessarily sick.

Indeed, over the coming months, we may be

hearing of a new health scare - the Cipro

syndrome.

Ellen

http://www.legacyusa.com/theherbhouse

New Flash Demonstration on Bio-Tech Immune Product demonstrates Problem and

Solution.. click The Story

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